2
Nov
Goodbye to the Last Free 4 Letter Domain
According to a thread in Namepros, the very last free 4-letter .COM domain was purchased last night. Yes, that’s right folks - all possibly combination of letters have now been taken (456,976). 
3 letter .COM domain have long since gone and now change hands for $5′000 upwards. The rarer still 2-letter domains create a stir when they become available. Dominik Mueller recently posted about the domain IA.com coming up for sale with the owner entertaining offers in the 6-figure range.
What of 1 letter domains you ask? Well 1 letter .COM domains were reserved by Jon Postel, the one-man predecessor to ICANN, with a few exceptions. Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) got Q.com, X Bank got X.com (now PayPal/eBay), Nissan’s “Z Car” got Z.com (now owned by Nissan), Inet Corp. got I.net (not currently resolving), The Open Group got x.org (now X.Org foundation).
The idea was that they could be used for expansion should the zonefile become too large. As that is no longer a concern Jay Westerdal has proposed that these should be auctioned off and expects them to fetch $2m each.
It’s all enough to make you run out and grab some of the remaining 5-letter domains! Events like these remind you of the finite availability of premium domains and how much they are generally undervalued. I wonder if our grandchildren will look back in awe at the 2-word dictionary domains that are sitting in our portfolios?
November 5th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
4-letter .com domains can still be acquired fairly cheaply at expired domain auctions and through discussion forums. I have a feeling these represent a good investment, especially the ones that are pronounceable or that are commonly used acronyms.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:42 am
Good to have you drop by Mr. Abdelgawad :)
Like you I see the value in the onces that are pronounceable or acronyms. There was apparently a bit of a surge once people knew they were running out, it will be interesting to see how many of these now get unloaded. In the short term it could even lessen the price as supply outstrips demand.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:57 am
hi greeting , ’s[is] e3auction , at least currently , just only 4[for] expired props ??
ThANKye , 2w
November 12th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Hi 2w,
Yes at the moment we are allowing searches within Tucows auctioned domains (expired) and Premium domain properties. We are not selling domains for individuals at the moment but may look at that option in the future.
HTH
November 16th, 2007 at 1:41 am
I’d like to take exception to this quote I have seen several times. Well 1 letter .COM domains were reserved by Jon Postel, the one-man predecessor to ICANN, with a few exceptions. Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) got Q.com, X Bank got X.com (now PayPal/eBay), Nissan’s “Z Car” got Z.com, Inet Corp. got I.net (not currently resolving), The Open Group got x.org (now X.Org foundation).
Z.com was originally a community site, far ahead of its time. It was active as recently as 2001, I believe, when I had the email address v@z.com If it was owned by Nissan then, there was no indication. Has anyone done a history on it?
November 16th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Hi Victor
I took that from Jay Westerdal’s blog here:
http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/10/single-letter-domain-auctions/
You’d think if anyone was in a position to check the history of a domain it would be Jay ;) I think you maybe right though.
Looking through the Web Archive, the earliest record in 1997 indicates the domain was run by Eric Ziegast, Michele Jannette and Vince Harron. None of their biographies show any connection to Nissan.
http://web.archive.org/web/19970414173228/http://www.z.com/
The records in early 2000 do seem to redirect to a Nissan error page but I’m not sure if that is connected to an error in the system - it seems an identical page to one found in later years
http://web.archive.org/web/20000520060958/http://z.com/ (click about)
However in October I can clearly see the community site you are talking about.
http://web.archive.org/web/20001005132133/http://www.z.com/
“Z.com’s founding investors include idealab!, Basic Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Maverick Records Partner and Co-CEO Guy Oseary.”
November 20th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I have noticed many sellers of 4 letter.com’s have really started to go heavy on selling their names at really high prices, or is this normal pricing now?
http://www.4ldomain.com
http://www.4ldomains.com
January 5th, 2008 at 3:58 am
Hi i’v got wix5.com :-D
is it valuable or how much do you think will pay for it ?
if it’s posible please let me know , Thank you. . .
January 31st, 2008 at 1:47 am
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